In today's business environment, a company's network may perform an important role in enabling a company to conduct its business. To monitor the network, a company may implement network taps, which are non-intrusive hardware devices that are capable of monitoring network traffic traversing through the network. In a typical network, the number and type of network taps that may be implemented may depend upon the company's network backbone and the monitoring goals of the company.
To facilitate discussion, FIG. 1 shows a simple block diagram of a network 100 with a plurality of network taps (102, 104, 106, 108, and 110). As aforementioned, in a typical business environment, different network taps may be configured to perform different functions. Consider the situation wherein, for example, a stream of data traffic is being received by network tap 102.
Network tap 102 may include a plurality of network ports (112 and 114). In an example, a stream of in-line data traffic, which may include a data packet A may be received by network port 112. Network tap 102 assures connectivity between port 112 and 114 regardless of power availability. By way of example, a passive circuit including a switch may be employed between these ports. The switch may close to create a bypass route between these ports when power is not available. In addition, a copy of data packet A may be sent to one of the monitor ports (116, 118, and 120). Network tap 102 may include a switch arrangement that may determine the routing of data packet A to monitor port 120. Accordingly, the data packet may flow directly out of a monitor port to a monitoring device. However, the data packet may also flow through additional network taps before arriving at the monitoring device.
If data packet A continues to flow to other network taps, as shown in this example, data packet A may be received by a network port 122 of network tap 104. Network tap 104 may be configured for regenerating network traffic that may be received. In an example, before forwarding data packet A to a network port 124, data packet A may be regenerated (i.e., copied). In an example, if each of the monitor ports (126, 128, and 130) is configured to receive a copy of data packet A, then three copies may be made in order to send the copies to the monitor ports. As can be appreciated from the foregoing, a regeneration tap may be utilized when a flow of data traffic may have to be sent to multiple monitoring devices.
Data packet A flowing from monitor port 130 may be received by a network port 132 of network tap 106, which may be configured for aggregating data traffic. In an example, besides receiving data traffic from monitor port 130 of network tap 104, network tap 106 may also be receiving traffic from other sources. In an example, data packet B may be received by a network port 134 and data packet C may be received by a network port 136. Network tap 106 may include a logic arrangement for aggregating the incoming data packets and sending the aggregated traffic out through a monitor port 138. In other words, network tap 106 may be a link aggregator that is configured to send data packets A, B, and C out through monitor port 138.
The data packets A, B, and C may be forwarded to network tap 108, which is similar to network tap 104. Network tap 108 is similar to network tap 104 in that network tap 108 may also be configured to regenerate data packets that may be received by network tap 108. Hence, not only may there be network taps with different functionality; but each type of network taps may be implemented more than once within the network.
The data packets A, B, and C may then be forwarded to network tap 110, which may be configured to perform filtering. Network tap 110 may include a plurality of network ports, including network ports 140 and 142. Besides sending data packets A, B, and C onward, network tap 110 may also include logic arrangement, which may include rules for filtering the data traffic received. In an example, of the three data packets (A, B, and C) received, data packets A and B may be forwarded to a monitor port 144 whereas data packet C may be forwarded to a monitor port 146.
As described in FIG. 1, a plurality of network taps may have to be implemented in order to perform the various different functionalities. Thus, as the complexity of a network increases, the number of network taps that may be needed to monitor the data traffic that may be flowing through the network may also increase. However, in a more complex network environment, the number of network taps that may be implemented may either be limited by rack space availability or may require the company to invest in additional real estate to accommodate the complex network tap configuration. In addition, the task of maintaining the plurality of network taps may require the skill of experienced information personnel (IT). In an example, the task of adding or removing a network tap when a problem arises may be a complicated and tedious task since each network tap may be of different makes and models. Accordingly, the cost and time-spent associated with creating and maintaining a network of network taps may become quite costly.